Peat-pressing machine



Patented May 20, 1919.

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(LA. WILLMARTH. FEAT PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJO. 1918.

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FEAT PRESSING MACHINE.

APPLICATION FILED AUGJO. 191s.

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(B K A MLLMRRTQ Patented May 20, 1919.

CHARLES A. WILLMARTH, or DETROIT, MICHIGAN.

PEAT-PRESSING MACHINE.

Specification of Letters Patent,

Patented May 20,1919.

Application filed August 10, 1913. Serial no. 249,267.

To all whom z't-may concern:

Be it known that I, CHARLES A. WILL- MARTH, a citizen of the United States of America, residing at Detroit, in the county of Wayne and State of Michigan, have in vented certain new and useful Improvements in Peat-Pressing Machines, of which the following is a specification, reference being had therein to the accompanying drawings.

The primary object of my invention is to provide a novel machine for pressing peat and other materials in the manufacture of fuel or artificial fuel, the machine pressing and shaping the material to briquettes or other form so that the fuel may be conveniently handled. 1

Another object of my invention is to provide a novel machine wherein material is agitated and fed in molds, and pressed so as to extract water and other liquids therefrom, and then the pressed and shaped material ejected from the molds, these operations being successively performed with minimum labor and waste of material.

A further object of my invention is to furnish a peat pressing machine with novel molds in which peat may be pressed and shaped, the pressing of the peat extracting water and other liquid from the same, and in consequence of this-feature of; the machine, it is possible to mold any plastic material.

A still further object of my invention is to provide a machine, of the above type wherein the parts are constructed with a view of reducing the cost of manufacture, and at the same time retain those features by which compactness, durability and ease of assembling are secured. With such ends in view my invention resides in the novel construction combination and arrangement of parts to be hereinafter specifically described and then claimed.

Referencewill now be had to the drawings, wherein I Figure l is a side elevation of the machine;

Fig. 2 is a rear elevation of the same;

Fig. 3 is a horizontal sectional view taken on the line III-III of-Fig. 1, with the rotary mold carrier removed from the machine; 3

Fig. 4 is a horizontalsectional viewtaken on the line IVIV of Fig. 1; showing the rotary mold carrier with a mold in a position to'have the contentsthereof'ejected;

Fig. 5 isan enlarged plan of a portion of the carrier;

Fig. 6 is a perspective view of a mold shell;

Fig. 7 is a vertical sectional view of a portion of a mold;

Fig.8 is a similarview of a portion of the mold carrier, showing a closure plate;

Fig. 9 isa perspective view of a reciprocable cross head, and

Fig. 10' is a perspective view of an agitator. e

I In describing v my invention by aid of the views above referred to, I desire to point out that the same are intended as merely illustrative of the peat pressing machine as now being constructed, and I do not care to con- .fine my invention to the precise construction and arrangement of parts shown. The following description is therefore to be broadly construed as. including such substitute constructions and arrangements of parts which are the obvious equivalent of those to be hereinafter referred to.

In the drawings, the reference numeral 1 denotes a base or bed frame having rearwardly extending portions 2 provided with bearings 3 and mounted on the base 1 are uprights 1, 5, 6'and 7, eachof which may be composed of a plurality of superposed sections connected together and rigidly held by tie rods '8 connected to the base 1 of the machine. I

The lowermost sections of the uprights 4 to 7 inclusive support a circular table 9, and the bottom side ofthis table is reinforced by beams 10 and .webs 11, the principal beam being shown in Fig. 1, andfthe other reinforcements by dotted linesin Fig. 1. r

The rear side of the table 9 has a rectangular opening 12 serving as a drain opening and at the side of the table is a similarly shaped eject-or opening 13.

Those sections of the uprights 1, 5, 6 and 7 directly above the table 9 are provided with guides 1a and slidable in said guides are cross heads 15 and 16, the former being between the uprights 6 and 7 and the latter between the uprights and 5, as best shown in Fig. 3. The cross head 15 has vertical aperture-d bosses 18 and the cross head 16 has similar bosses 17 and 19. Between the bosses 18 of the cross head 15 is a lateral support 20 and between the bosses 19 of the cross head 16 is a lateral support 21, each support having a plurality of equally spaced detachable members, those designated 22 serving as presser heads and those designated 23 as ejector heads.

Connected to the bosses 17 of the cross head 16 are a set of rods 23, said rods extending through the table 9 and having the lower ends thereof loosely connected to a tie rod 2 1 connecting the short ends of levers 25 mounted 011 a shaft 26, journaled in brackets 27, carried by the lower sections of the uprights at and 5. The levers 25 extend to the opposite side of the machine and are adapted to be raised by cranks or cams 28 on a power shaft 29 journaled in the bearings 3. One end of the power shaft 29 has av power transmission wheel 30 so that the machine may be operated from a suitable source of power. The ends of the levers 25 remain in engagement with the cams 28, and the weight of the outer ends of said levers is suflicient to maintain the cross head 16 nor mally elevated.

Connected to the bosses 19 of the cross head 16 is a set of rods 31 having the upper ends thereof loosely connected to a tie rod 32 connecting the outer ends of fulcrumed levers 33, said levers being fulcrumed on a rod 34: supported by cross members 35 connecting the uprights 4 and 5 to the uprights 6 and 7. The inner ends of the fulcrumed levers 33 are provided with gear teeth 36 to mesh with similar teeth of a set of fulcrumed levers 37, said levers being fulcrumed on a rod 38 connecting the cross members 35. The outer ends of the levers 37 are connected by a tie rod 39 and loose on said tie rod are the upper ends of depending rods 40, said rods having the lower ends thereof connected to the bosses of the crosshead 15. It is through the medium of the elements 31 to 10 inclusive, that the cross heads 15 and 16 may be moved in synchro nism, and by reference to Fig. 2 of the drawings, it will be noted that the fulcrum point of the levers 37 is closer to the gear teeth 36 than the fulcrum point of the levers 33, and in consequence of this arrangement,

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the cross head 15 has a greater stroke than the cross head 16.

Supported from the cross member 35, at the front side of the machine, by hangers or suitable brackets 41, is a hopper 42, in which is placed the peat or material to be pressed and molded by the machine. In the hopper 42 is a mixer, tamper or agitator member 13,

connected to a guide bar 4-1 slidable in a bracket 45 extending inwardly from the cross member 35 at the front side of the ma.- chine. Connected to the lower end of the guide bar 44 is a pitman 46 having its upper end loosely connected to a crank 17 of a shaft48. The shaft 18 is journaled 'in bearings 19 mounted on the cross members 35 and one end of said shaft has a sprocket wheel 50 over which is trained a sprocket chain 51, said sprocket chain extending under a sprocket wheel 52 mounted on the end of a shaft 53 journaled in bearings 54 carried by the base 1 of the machine. One end of the shaft 53 has a small gear wheel 55 meshing with a large gear wheel 56 on the end of the shaft 29, and when said shaft is revolved, the mixing or agitating member 413 is reciprocated within the hopper 12 to prevent the contents of said hopper from caking therein and retarding the flow of peat or other material from the lower open end'of said hopper.

Rotatable on the table 9 is a mold carrier 57 in the form of a skeleton framework having rectangular open frames 58 said frames having the upper and lower ends thereof open and adapted to accommodate molds 59 provided with a plurality of rectangular openings 60.

In the openings 60 are placed cylindrical shells '61 having the upper ends thereof flanged or flared, as at 62, to engage beveled seats 63, at the upper ends of the openings 60, so that the cylindrical shells 61 cannot fall through the molds 59; Each cylindrical shell has a series of apertures 64 and these apertures are disposed in parallel rows extending from the lower end of each shell to the upper end thereof, with the rows of apertures disposed in groups ninety degrees apart. When placing the shells 61 in the mold 59 said shells are placed with the apertures 64 thereof confronting the corners of the openings 60, and in consequence of this arrangement it is possible for water or other liquid squeezed or pressed out of the contents of a shell to pass through the apertures thereof and drain downwardly in the openings 60 in which said shell is placed.

The molds of the carrier 57 are adapted to pass beneath the hopper 42 and receive material therefrom, and to close the bottom of the hopper and prevent waste of material while one mold is traveling away from a hopper and anotherfcomin'g into. position,

the frame 58 of the carrier support closure plates 65, said plates being placed on chamfered edges 66 of the molds 59.

To rotate the mold carrier 57, said carrier has a depending shaft 67 extending through the table 9 and mounted on the lower end of said shaft is a ratchet wheel 68 normally engaged by a spring pressed pawl .69 carried by an oscillatory arm 70 having one end thereof loose on the shaft 67. Theouter end of the arm 70 is loosely connected, as at 71, to the upper end of the lever-72, said lever being fulcrumed on a bearing 7 3 carried by-the base 1 of the machine. The lower end of the lever 72 is adapted to be actuated by a cam 74 on the power shaft 29.

To restore the arm 70 to normal position, after having been actuated by the lever 72 and the cam 7 4:, a cable 75 is connected to the outer end of the arm 70, said cable being trained over a sheave 76 and provided with weight 77 the sheave 7 6 being supported from the uprights 4 and 5 by a rod 78.

Considering the operation of the machine and assuming that four molds are in position, the mold beneath the hopper 42 receives material therefrom, and this takes place While water and liquid is draining from the mold at the rear side of the machine over the opening 12 of the table 9, and while the material in a mold at one side of the machine is being pressed and the molded material ejected through the opening 13 at the opposite side of the table. The operation of the machine is timed so that these operations may take place while the mold carrier is stationary, and when the operation is complete the carrier is shifted a quarter of a revolution through the medium of a ratchet mechanism. An empty mold is therefore brought into position beneath the hopper, and that mold which has been filled with material transferred beneath the presser heads,

where the material is pressed and water or other liquid squeezed from the same. When the mold carrier is moved another quarter of a revolution, over the opening 12 of the table 9, the water which has been extracted may drain through the opening 12, and a further quarter revolution of the mold carrier places the pressed material beneath the ejector heads 23 so that the formed material may be ejected through the opening 13 of the table.

It is thought that the utility and the successive operations performed by the machine will be apparent without further description, and as set forth in the beginning, it is obvious that various kinds of plastic material may be handled in the machine.

What I claim is 1. A machine of the type described comprising uprights, cross members at the upper ends thereof, sets of fulcrumed levers supported from said cross members and connected to operate in synchronism, cross heads connected to said levers and slidable between said uprights, presser heads carried by one of said cross heads, ejectors carried by the other of said cross heads, means connected to one of said cross heads adapted for imparting movement to both of said cross heads, molds, and means adapted to suecessively move the molds beneath said cross heads. 7 7

2. A machine of the type described comprising uprights, a table carried thereby, a

"rotary mold carrier on said table, detachable molds in said carrier, reeiprocable cross heads slidable between said uprights above said table, presser heads carried by one of said cross heads, ejectors carried by the other of said cross heads, means suported by said uprights and articulatingsaid cross heads for movement in synchronism, and means below said table and connected to One of said cross heads adapted for imparting movement thereto.

3. A machine of the type described, comprising uprights, cross members connecting said uprights, a hopper supported from one of said cross members, a table supported by said uprights, a rotary mold carrier on said table, molds in said carrier and adapted to be successively shifted beneath said hopper, means under said table adapted for imparting an intermittent movement to said mold carrier, presser heads movable between some of said uprights and adapted to enter said molds, ejectors movable between the other of said uprights and adapted to enter said molds, and means adapted for simultaneously imparting movement to said presser heads and said ejectors, and imparting a greater movement to said ejectors than to said presser head.

4:. In a pressing machine,the combinationv with reciprocable presser heads, and means for reciprocating said heads, of a rotary mold carrier, molds in said carrier adapted to be shifted by said carrier beneath said reciprocable presser head, apertured shells in said molds and in which material is adapted to be pressed by said presser heads to extract liquid from the material in said shells, and means adapted for imparting an intermittent movement to said rotary mold carrier.

5. In a pressing machine, the combination with reciprocable presser heads and means adapted for imparting movement to said presser heads, of a mold movable beneath said presser heads, said mold having rectangular openings therein, cylindrical shells mounted in the rectangular openings of said mold and provided with apertures confronting the corners of the rectangular openings of said mold, and means adapted to move said mold beneath said presser heads.

6. A machine of the type described comprising uprights, cross members in the upper ends thereof, sets of fulorumed levers supported from said cross members and having meshing gear teeth so that one set of levers may impart movement to the other set of levers, cross heads connected to said levers and slidable between said uprights, presser heads carried by one of said cross heads,

ejectors carried by the other of said cross heads, means connected to one of said cross heads adapted for imparting movement to both of said cross heads, a hopper, a mold, and means adapted for successively moving said mold beneath said hopper and said presser heads and ejector in the order named. In testimony whereof I afiix my signature in the presence of two Witnesses.

7 CHARLES A. "WILLMARTH. Witnesses:

ANNA M.- Donn, KARL H. BUTLER.

Copies of this patent may be obtained for five cents each, by addressing the Commissioner of Patents, Washington, D. 0; 

